In hot wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) processes, one or more precursor gases are thermally decomposed at a high temperature within a process chamber proximate a substrate upon which a desired material is to be deposited. The thermal decomposition reaction is facilitated within the process chamber by one or more wires, or filaments, supported in the process chamber that may be heated to a desired temperature, for example, by passing electrical current through the filaments.
A current method of keeping a wire tense in the vertical plane is to clamp the wire in a vertical plane with a weight attached at the end, thereby providing tension via gravity. A current method of keeping a wire tense in the horizontal plane is to use short lengths of wire attached to a frame within the HWCVD process chamber, such that expansion of the short wires does not cause instability. A current method of protecting the wire at the terminal connection area is to use gas flows to create a positive pressure around the terminal connection area, thereby preventing process gases from entering into the wire terminal connection area.
Therefore, the inventors have provided an improved method and apparatus for tensioning the wires in HWCVD process chambers.